By Danny Brault

Happy Easter everyone! Actually, it’s more like happy Good Friday; Easter takes place this Sunday. This weekend was supposed to be a chance for everyone—other than the Amp’d Mobile AMA Supercross stars—to get some riding in before the northern racing season kicks off.

Unfortunately, Mother Nature has suffered some miscommunication with Father Time and she has dumped snow throughout several regions in Canada. After last week’s t-shirt weather, we were fooled into thinking that it was time to put away with the toques and parkas and pull out our Birkenstocks and sunscreen. That’s not the case in London, at least, as I sit here staring out the window and the snow keeps falling.

That’s right, the RXC office actually has a window now! We made the big move to downtown London last Friday. We’re right across from the Elephant’s Castle and FM 96—the home of Tucker and Taz. Everyone seems pretty comfortable in our new digs (I know I am; I have my own office with a real door!).

So, unless the weatherman is wrong (which he often is) it looks like we’ll be couch surfing this weekend. If that’s the case, be sure to tune into SPEED on Sunday morning. Three hours of straight SX action will run from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM EST, featuring the SX class from Orlando, Indianapolis, and Irving. Afterwards, you can sneak in a quick nap before the big family dinner.

Monster Energy/ Pro Circuit Kawasaki’s Darcy Lange has returned to his home in Courtenay, BC this past week. While he will have a chance to relax, catch up with friends and family, his mind will no doubt be too preoccupied with the final East Coast round in Detroit to enjoy grandma’s gobbler or hunt for eggs.

After last weekend’s race in Texas, where Lange finished second behind teammate Ben Townley—and two spots ahead of points leader Ryan Morais—“The replacement” now sits eight points out of the lead and five points behind Townley who is in second.

With the track rutted and tacky from rain earlier in the day and his qualifier win (his fourth of the series), it looked like Lange might finally win one of these. But it wasn’t to be. He has one final chance (and hopefully seven more when Mitch Payton brings Lange back in `08 … C’mon Mitch!) coming in Detroit and he will have a legion of Canucks there cheering him on (I think Allison told him we would all be painted red and white, although so far she is the only one ‘committed’)—and his long time friend/mechanic Ian Woods might be in the house.

Since Townley is sitting in the passenger seat next to Yamaha of Troy’s Morais, there’s talk going on over at motonews.com whether there will be some team tactics used in Detroit. Even David Vuillemin is chiming in.

I certainly hope not. I understand that it’s a team thing, but I’m selfish and come on—when will a Canadian have a chance for a SX win again?

The journeyman Doug DeHaan once again got stuck in the middle of a thick field of SX talent. The BTO Sports/ Butler Brothers rider just can’t seem to catch a break this season. He has competitive lap times and looks smooth on the track, but … he just can’t make the final cut. With his hometown of Thorndale (east of London) just two hours from the border, he too will have plenty of support at Ford Field.

If you haven’t booked your tickets for Detroit yet, click here for details.

Gopher Dunes had a good showing at the CMRC practice last Sunday. Despite a few early morning showers, the clouds broke up in the afternoon and the track held up nicely. For my first few motos, I thought I might have something for Kyle Keast or JSR this summer, but it wasn’t long before reality set in. As much as I ride at the Dunes, every spring, I always forget how rough that track becomes.

Some notable names who made it out were Machine Racing Honda’s Kyle Keast who had just picked up his `07 CRF450R; Jason Burke was there with his new national #34 Label It 450 Honda; Yamaha’s Pierce Chamberlain was out on Saturday and Johnny Silegren made his return to riding after taking a year off. Silegren, along with Brad Adams will be Ignition Racing’s two main guys at the provincials and nationals this year.

Ontario isn’t the only region getting back into the saddle, our general manager Brett Dailey and Mill Hill track owner, Blaine Prest (Atlantic Canada’s version of John Nelson, according to Brett) have been visiting the Kingston track for the past two weeks. Dailey, who is riding a mint `04 CRF450 (he still has the stock tires on it!), and Prest are working off each other to prepare for the Moncton national in August. Rumour has it both parties are actually getting into shape, but Prest still can’t pass up those 99 cent Junior Whoppers at Burger King. “Really, who can?” says Prest. “I mean, they’re only 99 cents! Might as well get five.”

Judging by the photos posted on www.mxforum.com, the West Coasters are back on the track as well. There’s actually a six page thread on the forum discussing the new track layout at The Wastelands in Nanaimo, where they have removed the infamous whoop section.

To check out some photos from the open house in Nanaimo, click here. Thanks Psyc!

This week, I checked in with one of The Wastelands’ most dominant riders, Dusty Klatt. The Star Racing Yamaha rider has been preparing for the outdoors since the last West round in San Diego back in February. Other than a four-stroke national in Arizona (which he won) Klatt has just been riding and training. He didn’t sound too lively on the phone, other than when we traded back lines from the Trailer Park Boys movie.

“It’s been boring, lately,” said Klatt. “I just wish I was racing. It feels like I’m waiting, waiting and waiting.”

He will get his fill of racing soon enough, however, as he plans to hit the four-stroke national at Glen Helen on April 21-22, the Seattle SX on April 28, then there is the East/ West Lites Shootout at the final round of the AMA SX Series in Las Vegas and the prequel at GH.

Klatt has been down in California for eight straight months now (he didn’t even go home for Christmas) and, if he’s allowed to, he would like to return home between rounds after the second U.S. national at Mount Morris in Pennsylvania.

Depending on Star Racing team manager Bobby Reagan’s thoughts and Klatt’s energy level, we may see him race a Canadian National or two. His options would be Gopher Dunes—which would be a great warm up for Southwick—and Calgary, Regina, and Walton, where he can race both classes if he wishes.

In other West Coast news, Yamaha Canada’s Kyle Beaton will be sidelined for four to six weeks. The 18-year-old who has been working his butt off preparing for the MX2 West series, slid out going around a corner at Cahuilla Creek on Wednesday and he broke his L1 and L2 vertebrae after he fell onto a hard chunk of dirt.

Beaton sounded in pain over the phone and I actually couldn’t even transcribe our brief interview because he was cracking up so badly. He said that, initially, he felt like saying to hell with racing and moving on, but once the painkillers set in, he smartened up and decided that he will be back on the line ASAP.  Luckily, the injury didn’t require any surgery; he just needs to rest up, and he will be seeing a specialist next week. From the entire Canadian MX community, Get well soon, Kyle!

On the topic of injuries, for those of who have purchased a Leatt Brace or anyone planning to invest in the new spinal safety device, check out www.leatt-brace.com to watch a video clip that shows step-by-step instructions on fitting the brace.

http://leatt-brace.com/gpx_fitment.asp

In last week’s Update, we asked readers to send in photos of their trick bikes and  we received some great response. Check out the photos below of a few of the submissions.

We appreciate everyone's participation and we’re going to give the nod to #822 Jared Giles from Alberta, thanks to his unique blue-Honda and his accompanying letter. He will be sent out a RXC swag pack shortly.

Well, I am not sure it’s as cool as the factory 450 that Steve [Matthes] built for his man friend, but it's probably as close to works as this almost 40, vet mxer from Alberta is gonna get! I too have a man friend, Adam Barr of Adrenaline Racing. He was involved in Sean Hamblin's program when he raced up here for the all-powerful Blackfoot team.

Sean might be winning Nationals if he still had Adam wrenching for him. I'm not saying ... I'm just saying. He has helped me be a much faster rider at 40 than when I was at 35. Adam has since moved on to start Adrenaline Racing. He specializes in MX suspension, but also built my motor, installed my graphics and assembled and trued my wheel set as well. Being a vet, I'm not bound by engine size, so we started with a Vertex 290cc bigbore. I also added a PowerNow intake wing and Boyesen QuickShot. I like to call this our “BogBeGone” package.

 To compliment Adam's silky smooth valving, we also added AirCell sub tanks on the forks for even more plushness and tune ability. I have run white Hondas for years (I'm pretty sure Nick Wey got the idea from me), but I went with blue and white this year to really make it stand out in the "sea of red." One of my sponsors runs a Yamaha shop, so this also eases the pain of me on a Honda. Wouldn't a set of FMF "Twins" and a MegaBomb totally make this "Factory" sweet? Now if only I knew an FMF rep.…
 
Jared Giles
Rider/Rep
Adrenaline Racing

Jared, you’re obviously hinting for SX observer Steve Matthes to help you out with a pipe for your CRF250R. Insiders claim that he has a weakness for chicken-ziti….

Want to win a swag pack next week? Send us a photo or video of you doing some spring riding.

This is a little off topic, but I’ve been tuning into The Hour on CBC, which is hosted by former Much Music VJ, George Stroumboulopoulos (try saying that as fast as you can three times over), the last few evenings. It’s a very informative show that covers current events in a different light; as it says on the website, “The Hour dissects the issues within the issues. Always unconventional. Often controversial. Never predictable.”

Last night, they featured the Trailer Park Boys (I know I’m addicted) and you can watch the show and other past episodes by visiting www.cbc.ca/thehour. Inspired by The Hour’s top five TPB’s swear words (for ages 18 older), here are my five favourite mispronounced words/ sayings by Ricky:

5. “Worst case Ontario …”
4. “I’m having my wife wearing one of those cubic zarcarbian rings.”
3. “Lucy, will you take my hand in and above marriage.”
2. “Randy, I’ll take a bag of Ja-lap-ano chips.”
1. “What are you doing, Julian! The chicken fingers aren't even cooked! You want us to get sasparillaor!”

That’s it for this week, folks. Only seven weeks until Ste-Julie!